UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball program had a barn burner against Wayne State Tuesday afternoon at home. The Cardinals (22-8, 11-3 GLIAC) won 15-14 with the tying run in the eighth and a walk-off home run in beat the Warriors (20-11, 9-5 GLIAC). SVSU claimed the season series winning four of the six games.
Saginaw Valley got hits from all starting nine in the line up and multi-hit performances from five of them. Austin Schweiger went 3-for-6 extending his hitting streak to 10 games and multi-hit streak to eight. Jeff Reseigh went 3-for-5 while scoring three runs and driving in three as he hit the solo home run to win the game. Brandon Schuerer (W, 2-0) got two hits and scored three runs and earned the win pitching the last three innings. Hayden Jatczak led with four RBI with two hits as he hit a solo home run and a three-run home run to bring his season total in round trippers to 10. Colin Cornwell had the last multi-hit performance going 2-for-5.
Jatczak homered in the first to give SVSU the 1-0 lead before the Warriors got two runs on a triple to take the lead in the second. Ethan Scheib singled on a bunt in the bottom half of the second and on a throwing error, Reseigh scored to tie the game.
Wayne State put up the first crooked number of the day with six runs in the fourth. JJ Arbini started for the Cardinals and departed with two outs in the fourth allowing eight runs on eight hits and four walks. Jackson Decker took over after a walk and a hit, got SVSU out of the fourth inning down 8-2.
The Cardinals answered back with a 10-spot in the bottom of the fifth. Schweiger tallied an RBI single and reloaded the bases. Reed Raymond got hit by a pitch to push across another run to cut the lead to 8-4. Chase Raymond doubled home two and was followed up by another two-run double as Reseigh drove a ball to left center to tie the game 8-8. A fielder's choice scored Reseigh to give SVSU the lead before Jatczak hit his three-run blast to center field to give the Cardinals a 12-8 lead.
The top of the sixth was another big inning for the Warriors scoring five against Decker who had five runs against through two innings of work. Four scoring plays including a single and two doubles gave Wayne State a 13-12 lead. Matt Montroy took the mound and retired the only batter he faced to end the inning.
Scheurer tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with a triple that scored Reseigh. In the seventh, Schuerer moved from second to the mound to pitch the final three innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk while striking out five. The Warriors got their one run off Scheurer in the eighth to make it 14-13 before Schweiger singled home Schuerer in the bottom half of the eighth to tie it 14-14. In the ninth, the Warriors left two runners stranded. Gabe Nazelli (L, 0-1) got the final out of the eighth and a line out to start the ninth before Reseigh smashed his third home run on the season to win the game for Saginaw Valley.
The Cardinals hold a two-game lead on Wayne State in the GLIAC standings with the win. They still have four-game series against Grand Valley, Davenport, Purdue Northwest, and Parkside this season. SVSU heads to Hillsdale on Wednesday for a 6:00 PM first pitch start before hosting Davenport over the weekend starting with a 3:00 PM first pitch on Friday, April 12.
